To Build a Home

Testing the Waters

CHAPTER 4: TWENTY YEARS

Well, I've been running from something

Twenty years in my car

Down a road that's leading me nowhere

-From "Twenty Years" by Augustana

It had been a week since Mike had moved in and things were not going well, although on the surface everything appeared to be okay. They had fallen into a routine—Mike would come to the kitchen for breakfast at around 6:45 every morning, his hair damp from his daily shower, and nibble on some toast and a piece of fruit while Harvey was getting ready to leave for work. Harvey was usually gone by 7, but he knew that Mike left to ride his bike (which he had retrieved from his and Edith's apartment the second day of his stay with Harvey) to school at about 7:15. Then Mike had school from 7:45 until 3:00 and he would usually go and visit Edith at the nursing home after.

Harvey normally didn't get back from work until 6 or 7. He had tried twice to cook dinner but had completely failed and almost burned the apartment down so he usually brought take-out home with him. He and Mike would eat in silence and then Mike would retreat to his room for the rest of the night. That was the extent of Harvey's contact with the kid and he was starting to get a bit concerned. He knew it was normal for teenagers to not want to spend a lot of time with adults, but Mike seemed to be trying pretty hard to avoid him at all cost. Ever since their talk the first night Mike had moved in, he had become like some sort of shadow. Harvey couldn't figure out why and it was absolutely maddening. After all, he was Harvey Specter—he was supposed to be able to fix everything, read everyone, and close every deal, god damnit! But Mike wouldn't talk to him and it was starting to drive him crazy. It wasn't like he cared about the kid or anything, of course, but Edith would never forgive him if Mike had some sort of nervous collapse on his watch. And Harvey was almost as afraid of Edith's wrath as he was afraid of Donna, although he would never admit that to another living soul.

Harvey had tried several times to make small talk with the kid to get him to feel a little more relaxed and open up about what was bothering him but was frustrated to admit that he was failing. Every time he tried to make a joke it fell flat and gone was the easy banter they had shared before Mike had moved in. He was at his wit's end and was going to have to concede defeat and call Edith to ask for advice if this kept up much longer. It was just plain embarrassing, that's what it was. Harvey Specter, concerned about being rejected by a fourteen-year-old boy. What was the world coming to?

Fortunately for Harvey, things came to a head one night eight days after Mike had moved in. Harvey had worked especially late that night and it was nearing 11 o'clock when he returned to the apartment. He had gone out to drinks with a prospective client and it had gone well, so he was in a good mood. Mike was sitting on the couch when he entered, immersed in reading something. He had his feet up on the coffee table and Harvey had to bite his tongue to stop from snapping at him to get them off of the expensive wood, but he figured that it was progress that Mike was sitting in the main living area instead of holed up in the office so he let it be.

"Hey, I brought Chinese and—" Harvey paused when he saw what Mike was reading. "What the hell? Are those the Washington files? You can't read that; it's confidential! And you'll probably mess up the order of the papers— give me that," Harvey said sternly, snatching the file from Mike's hands. "Jesus, when I took in a fourteen-year-old I didn't think I'd have to baby-proof the place but I'll have to reconsider that now. Bad puppy" he said, shaking his head and checking to make sure that the documents were still intact. He was hoping to at least get a defiant "I do not look like a puppy!" out of the kid but all he heard was silence so he continued on.

"The Chinese is probably getting cold," Harvey said, moving on and dismissing the incident as no big deal, but Mike didn't respond. "Mike?" He turned and felt his blood run cold. Mike had curled up in a ball in the corner of the couch, as far away from Harvey as possible. His eyes looked glassy and he was breathing so rapidly and shallowly that Harvey was afraid he was going to pass out.